Preparing Garlic for Winter

Now that the cool weather of fall is upon us in the Mid-Atlantic US, it is the perfect time to overwinter garlic in preparation for next summer’s culinary creations. Garlic is a cold-weather crop that benefits from a period of cold dormancy, so plant garlic about a month before your region’s estimated hard frost date. Planting garlic in the fall allows it to establish roots and begin growing before the winter. The cold temperatures help stimulate bulb formation, and overwintering allows the garlic plant to become better adapted to the local climate. By planting garlic in the fall instead of in the spring, you can generally harvest it earlier in the summer, giving you a jump on the growing season for other crops you may want to plant in the same space.

Here’s a guide for how to plant and prepare garlic for the winter. Split an organic garlic bulb into cloves as shown below. Hardneck garlic varieties tend to do well in cold climates. Leave some of the outer peels on the cloves.

Dig a shallow hole and plant the garlic cloves about 1-2” below soil that has been mixed with compost. The pointy side of the garlic should face up. Cover the garlic clove with soil. Plant cloves 4-6” apart from each other. After planting, apply a 3” layer of mulch such as straw or hay over the garlic bed. This helps insulate the soil, retain moisture and regulate the garlic’s temperature–it is an important step for planting in colder regions.

Once planted, water the garlic thoroughly and continue to water regularly until the frost. Then stop watering and allow the garlic to hibernate through the winter. Green garlic shoots may have begun to sprout prior to the frost and that is fine. Just let them be. New shoots will sprout again in the spring. Resume watering in the spring after the last frost. Around mid-summer, your garlic will be ready to harvest when the lower leaves have yellowed and dried out. Then you can dig the garlic out of the ground and enjoy it in that delicious garlic shrimp and pasta dish you’ve been dying to make. Save some for me!

Keywords: #gardening  #fall  #food  #plants